| 释义 |
▪ I. zoom, v.|zuːm|
[Echoic.]
1. intr. To make a continuous low-pitched humming or buzzing sound; to travel or move (as if) with a ‘zooming’ sound; to move at speed, to hurry. Also loosely, to go hastily. Freq. with advbs. colloq.
1892‘Q’ I saw three Ships i, Amid..the scraping and zooming of the instruments, string and reed. 1904― Shining Ferry xiv, A couple of humble-bees zoomed against the window pane. 1924Brit. Weekly 18 Dec. 270/1 Trams zoom along and buses rattle past. 1946Wodehouse Joy in Morning xxix. 280 How would it be..to zoom off immediately, without waiting to pack. 1960T. McLean Kings of Rugby 118 Hewitt soon zoomed away on the right. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 14 Aug. 16/1 Every night..a speedboat zooms into the Jones Beach Marine Theater. 1977G. Durrell Golden Bats & Pink Pigeons v. 121 Three cleaner fish..worked assiduously on their three customers, zooming in to suck the parasites off their skin.
2. a. Aircraft slang. (See first quot.) Also transf.
In recent use, often not distinguished from sense 1.
1917Daily Mail 19 July 4/5 ‘Zoom’..describes the action of an aeroplane which, while flying level, is hauled up abruptly and made to climb for a few moments at a dangerously sharp angle. 1918‘B. Cable’ Air Men o' War i. 11 The ‘Silver Wings’ righted, zoomed sharply up, whirled round. 1920Blackw. Mag. July 71/2 The bird checked, swerved and dived and zoomed back into level flight again. 1934[see dog-fight v.]. 1940War Illustr. 19 Jan. 620/3 The mother-ship would be guarded by 350 m.p.h. fighters that would zoom up into the skies about her on the first hint of danger. 1962S. Carpenter in Into Orbit 75 At 28,000 feet, diving at 900 mph..we suddenly pulled through and started to zoom up again..This manœuvre converted some of our speed into zoom energy. 1980J. Ditton Copley's Hunch ii. i. 115 He zoomed up and over to gain height.
b. trans. To cause (an aircraft) to zoom; also, to fly over (an obstacle) in this manner.
1918Independent 16 Nov. 208/2, I ‘gave 'er all the gun’ and ‘zoomed’ the château—that is, I almost went up the front of the place. 1928V. Pagé Mod. Aircraft 521 A machine should never be ‘zoomed’ or made to jump into the air by a too-rapid movement of the elevator flaps.
c. intr. fig. Of prices, costs, etc.: to rise sharply; to soar or rocket. colloq.
1970Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 6 Feb. 17/3 They must double labour and work overtime. Costs zoom. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 17 July 3/1 By March 1978..the dropout total would zoom to 498,300—50 times the total as of March 1972. 1981Times 12 Sept. 2/1 He did not think that the Prime Minister had ever said the economy was going to zoom.
3. Cinematogr. and Photogr.
a. intr. Of a camera, lens, etc.: to close up on a subject (esp. rapidly) without losing focus; more generally, to alter range by variation of focal length. Freq. const. in (on). Also fig.
1948Jrnl. Soc. Motion Picture Engin. LI. 296 Does the speed change while zooming?.. The speed is independent of the zoom. 1959Halas & Manvell Technique Film Animation xix. 237 The scene opens with a full screen live-action back-projection shot which zooms to a miniature. 1962Daily Tel. 8 June 23/7 The lens is capable of ‘zooming-in’ on a set target up to a mile distant. 1970Amateur Photographer 11 Mar. 13 (Advt.), Needle⁓sharp f1.8 lens—zooms from telephoto to wide angle. 1973H. J. Eysenck Inequality of Man ii. 84 The computer will continue to select items in such a way as to ‘zoom in’ on the crucial set of items which will really test the subject's IQ, avoiding all the useless items which are below or above his true level. 1978N.Y. Times 30 Mar. d18/2 The TV camera zoomed in on a triumphant Holmes.
b. trans. To cause (a lens fitment, camera, etc.) to alter range in this manner.
1952Applied Electronics Ann. 1951 57/1 The construction makes it possible for the operator to ‘zoom’ the lenses after the ball or player. 1975Physics Bull. Nov. 481/2 The image magnification, AEI claims, can be zoomed continuously up to × 15 000 000 with no change in image focus or brightness. 1979SLR Camera Mar. 5/3 Have you tried focusing and zooming a lens that operates in the opposite direction to others in your gadget bag?
Hence ˈzooming vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1917Daily Mail 19 July 4/5 ‘Zooming’ is..frequently the only means of avoiding an obstacle when flying low. 1923Blackw. Mag. July 7/1 We settled into steady, zooming flight. 1961G. Millerson Telev. Production iii. 34 (caption) The zoom angle can be adjusted anywhere in the zooming range. 1982L. Cook Under Etna i. i. 11 ‘I hate this zooming-in bit.’ She gazed hypnotically at the strip of runway coming up to meet them.
▪ II. zoom, n.
[f. the vb.]
1. Aeronaut. An act of ‘zooming’. Also attrib.
1918Blackw. Mag. June 762/1 The Hun's third repetition of the manœuvre was varied by a straight zoom instead of a climbing turn. 1932[see blacking vbl. n. 1 c]. 1960Aeroplane 2 Dec. 741/1 At the zoom altitudes which the Mirage is capable of reaching, there is insufficient airflow through the engine to maintain afterburner combustion.
2. Cinematogr. and Photogr.
a. A camera shot in which the range is (usu. rapidly) shortened to close-up without loss of focus; this process.
1934[see fade-out 1]. 1948[see zoom v. 3 a]. 1962Movie Dec. 6/3 The film ends on a zoom into a close up of Tolly's clenched fist. 1967McLuhan & Fiore Medium is Massage 128 The audience had..been preconditioned by television commercials to abrupt zooms.., no story lines, flash cuts. 1977J. Hedgecoe Photographer's Handbk. 125 (heading) Zoom and tilt.
b. = zoom lens, sense 4 below.
1974Some Technical Terms & Slang (Granada Television), Zoom, lens allowing a change of view from longshot to close-up. 1978Amateur Photographer 29 Nov. 120 He uses a Nikon with 24mm, 43–86mm and 80–200mm zooms, and uses Kodachrome exclusively. 1982‘A. J. Quinnell’ Snap Shot vi. 99 [He] had taken the telephoto lens off the camera and replaced it with an all-purpose zoom.
3. fig. Zest, energy; sparkle, zip. Cf. zoom int. colloq.
1964in Hamblett & Deverson Generation X 97 Perhaps also a man has to have a bit of an inferiority complex..to give him that extra zoom as a lover. A smug, inbred type like Roger doesn't care if he's a dead loss to a woman between the sheets. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1977) III. 297, I am definitely losing political zest, looking and feeling more detached, with less zoom, watching, not believing in things, not as enthusiastic or inspired.
4. Comb. zoom lens Cinematogr. and Photogr., a camera lens whose focal length (and hence the magnification and the field of view) can be smoothly varied while the image remains in focus; cf. varifocal a.; zoom shot, a camera shot taken with a zoom lens.
1936World Film News Apr. 12 No British manufacturer makes a nice, cheap zoom-lens. 1949R. H. Alder Movie Making for Everyone vi. 67 Most amazing of all is the ‘Zoom’ lens, in which the angle of view can be changed while the picture is actually being taken. 1962L. Deighton Ipcress File xxiv. 154 A zoom lens, one that would change its focal length. 1978J. Gardner Dancing Dodo xix. 146 The drifting began. Like a huge, long pull-back on a zoom lens so that everything diminished. 1984A. C. & A. Duxbury Introd. World's Oceans iii. 104 The Alvin was equipped with a new color television camera that had a special zoom lens for inspecting the vent animals.
1966Listener 24 Feb. 286/1 A pre-credit titles vertical zoom-shot is served as hors d'œuvre for those with appetites for impudently expert camera work. 1977T. Allbeury Man with President's Mind x. 108 A zoom shot on the representatives of OPEC.
▪ III. zoom, int.|zuːm|
[See the vb.]
Representing a ‘zooming’ sound, such as that made by something travelling at speed. Freq. used fig. to denote a sudden rise (to success, etc.) or equivalent fall.
1942D. Powell Time to be Born vi. 130 Men..just lucky enough to hold a job a few years and then—zoom! 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §2/11 All of a sudden..socko..whang, zoom. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 25 Dec. 4/2 People began to talk about him. An article appeared in Advertising Age, a trade magazine. Then he wrote a guest column for the Hollywood Reporter. Zoom. |